Austrian Elections & Politics 4.0

[rob in cal]

  Crabcake, fair point about using Lebanon as a country in my list of countries not participating in refugee settlements, its actually amazing that they've been able to host as many refugees as they have without it destabilizing their politics too much.
   Tender, is there something special about Zell am See that attracts Arab visitors?

[Tender Branson]

 Crabcake, fair point about using Lebanon as a country in my list of countries not participating in refugee settlements, its actually amazing that they've been able to host as many refugees as they have without it destabilizing their politics too much.

   Tender, is there something special about Zell am See that attracts Arab visitors?

Our beautiful landscape, which led our tourism agency to advertise heavily in the Arab Gulf states about a decade ago. Arab tourists like the snow on the nearby Kitzsteinhorn glacier, the cows and especially the heavy thunderstorms during summer which brings huge amounts of rain. For us these thunderstorms are annoying, but the Arab tourists are standing outside in joy when its pouring down and take pictures. 99% of them are very nice people, but the men - and it's only the men that drive - are extremely bad (or insane) drivers, causing several accidents here, running over stop signs and red signals and stopping right on main (!) roads to take pictures of the mountains and cows:

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https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/gallery/2015/jul/20/zell-am-see-austrian-village-muslim-holiday-hotspot-in-pictures

http://www.faz.net/aktuell/politik/ausland/europa/arabische-touristen-in-oesterreich-in-zell-am-see-begegnen-sich-kulturen-13131912.html?printPagedArticle=true#pageIndex_0

https://www.stern.de/reise/europa/zell-am-see--gaudi-arabien-im-alpen-paradies-in-oesterreich-7636582.html

[President Punxsutawney Phil]

How hot does it get in the Arabian Peninsula?
A trip to the Alps can certainly be a nice disruption.

[Tender Branson]

How hot does it get in the Arabian Peninsula?
A trip to the Alps can certainly be a nice disruption.

40-50°C.

And here we have about 20-25°C right now (not even hot for a July). The daily thunderstorms even cool it down to 15°C, which not only we locals like but also the Arab tourists.

Initially, there were some concerns about the massive amount of Arab tourists here, but hotel and shop owners quickly adapted to them, handing out brochures about how to behave here and what's not allowed. Now, hotel and shop owners really like the Arab tourists because they are really nice and spendthrift. No other tourist group spends as much here per capita (except the Russians). After the full-face veil ban came into effect in Austria last year, police handed out brochures in Arab so that women take down the veils that cover their faces in public (regular headscarves are of course allowed) and most follow the law.

You still bump into some conservative-minded tourists (older ones) who are not aware of the veil-ban and keep on wearing them. Middle-class tourists on the other hand are rarely wearing full-face veils. Still, if police are around, they will ask them to remove the veils or pay a fine of 150€, after which they remove their veils. The local police is using a soft, advising approach and no problems or arrests have been reported so far. They even hired an Arab-speaking police officer recently, so that checks are even done more swiftly.

https://www.sn.at/salzburg/chronik/zell-am-see-das-burkaverbot-greift-nur-langsam-31165534

https://kurier.at/chronik/oesterreich/burkaverbot-nimmt-keiner-ernst/400059698

[Tender Branson]

In a sign of more internal problems, the left-wing "List Pilz" kicked out Martha Bißmann from their parliamentary group today, who will now become the first Independent member of parliament in this term:



Bißmann initially was not elected to parliament in Oct. 2017, but was able to take the seat for party founder Peter Pilz a bit later, after he was confronted with sexual misconduct allegations.

The state prosecution later dropped the charges, but Bißmann refused to resign her (well-paid) seat in parliament. Someone else stepped down after big infights and Pilz returned to parliament.

Today, I have read a funny, but fitting term for the current state of the "List Pilz":

"The intellectual, leftist version of the Team Stronach."



https://derstandard.at/2000083770722/Liste-Pilz-schliesst-Bissmann-aus-Parlamentsklub-aus

[Tender Branson]

So the FPÖ in Niederösterreich is apparently responsible for animal welfare under the Proporz system and attempts to make kosher slaughter as difficult as possible ("doing everything that's legally possible to limit the practice" were the exact words). Apparently somebody had come up with the idea to only allow people registered on lists to buy kosher meat, though the ÖVP have now said they will prevent this from happening. Still creepy, particularly when introduced by the party whose provincial leader had to resign over Nazi songs glorifying the Shoah, and a big nope.

Somehow, these kosher-registry plans created a huge storm in the Israeli media - with several hundreds of articles there (many also likening the local plans to the Nazis), when in fact the FPÖ only took it up from the previous SPÖ minister in charge of animal protection.

Now, the federal ÖVP-FPÖ government has clearly said there will be no such registry for Jewish and Muslim kosher product buyers:

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That's clearly an issue where animal protection rights collide with religious freedom rights.

I tend to lean in favour of the animals actually ...

[DavidB.]

Obviously slaughterhouses have to follow the rules and otherwise need to be closed down, but if kosher meat is legal, it is not the government's business to decide who can and who cannot buy kosher meat. Compiling lists of potential buyers is distasteful and the fact that this idea came from the SPÖ does not suddenly make it clean. Nobody can convince me that those who came up with this idea did not have the historical background of such ideas in mind: the WW2 history is even more prevalent in political thought and discourse in Austria than in the Netherlands.

My (non-Jewish) uncle is in the FPÖ Niederösterreich, I will ask him whether or not to bring a yellow star when I come to visit my aunt and him next time

[Tender Branson]

Obviously slaughterhouses have to follow the rules and otherwise need to be closed down, but if kosher meat is legal, it is not the government's business to decide who can and who cannot buy kosher meat. Compiling lists of potential buyers is distasteful and the fact that this idea came from the SPÖ does not suddenly make it clean. Nobody can convince me that those who came up with this idea did not have the historical background of such ideas in mind: the WW2 history is even more prevalent in political thought and discourse in Austria than in the Netherlands.

My (non-Jewish) uncle is in the FPÖ Niederösterreich, I will ask him whether or not to bring a yellow star when I come to visit my aunt and him next time

I oppose any sort of registry for Muslim and Jewish customers as well, because it's not needed.

What's more important are quality controls in Lower Austrian and Styrian slaughterhouses (kosher meat is only produced in factories in these 2 states, with basically all customers in Vienna).

We need to look if animals are properly sedated before their throats are cut. That's the main thing.

And I think this is also the intention of the SPÖ (originally) and the FPÖ (now).

[Tender Branson]

Another possibility is that the FPÖ uses the protection of animal rights by calling for a ban on kosher butchering to shore up resentments and stereotypes of both Muslims and Jews (which would keep their Nazi voter wing loyal and their more regular anti-Muslim wing as well).

Looks like the Lower Austria FPÖ is some sort of "laboratory" for them that acts as hitman for the federal FPÖ, so that they do not lose hardline support while in government (which forces them to be very centrist and non-controversial) ...

[Tender Branson]

This is also interesting:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Legal_aspects_of_ritual_slaughter

Slovenia is the only country in Europe that fully bans ritual slaughter and most countries do not even require sedation of animals when they are about to be killed ...

[Tender Branson]

Someone took a picture recently of an ancient monk sculpture in France, who looks surprisingly similar to our Chancellor:

[Tender Branson]

Austria to stop offering driving tests in Turkish

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https://www.dw.com/en/austria-to-stop-offering-driving-tests-in-turkish/a-44773903

Good.

[Tender Branson]

A huge majority of Austrian voters (incl. me) do not want young asylum seekers which are in ongoing education/apprenticeships to be deported if they got a negative asylum decision from the courts, according to a new "Profil" magazine poll out today:

43% say they should only be deported after they have completed their apprenticeship/studies
29% are in favour of a general right to remain, even after completion of apprenticeship/studies
21% say deport them right after the court issues a negative verdict on their asylum status
  7% are undecided

https://www.profil.at/oesterreich/umfrage--abschiebung-lehrlinge-10224319

[rob in cal]

  I like the idea of them being allowed to stay until they have finished their apprenticeship, and then even some seed money for them to get established in their home countries. 

[DavidB.]

A huge majority of Austrian voters (incl. me) do not want young asylum seekers which are in ongoing education/apprenticeships to be deported if they got a negative asylum decision from the courts, according to a new "Profil" magazine poll out today:

43% say they should only be deported after they have completed their apprenticeship/studies
29% are in favour of a general right to remain, even after completion of apprenticeship/studies
21% say deport them right after the court issues a negative verdict on their asylum status
  7% are undecided

https://www.profil.at/oesterreich/umfrage--abschiebung-lehrlinge-10224319

What's the point of having them continue their education at the expense of the taxpayer and then to say goodbye anyway? Seems cruel to me, and Austrians are not an ATM. A negative verdict should mean immediate deportation.

[Tender Branson]

A huge majority of Austrian voters (incl. me) do not want young asylum seekers which are in ongoing education/apprenticeships to be deported if they got a negative asylum decision from the courts, according to a new "Profil" magazine poll out today:

43% say they should only be deported after they have completed their apprenticeship/studies
29% are in favour of a general right to remain, even after completion of apprenticeship/studies
21% say deport them right after the court issues a negative verdict on their asylum status
  7% are undecided

https://www.profil.at/oesterreich/umfrage--abschiebung-lehrlinge-10224319

What's the point of having them continue their education at the expense of the taxpayer and then to say goodbye anyway? Seems cruel to me, and Austrians are not an ATM. A negative verdict should mean immediate deportation.

Apprenticeship is not paid for by the taxpayer, but by their employers.

Well, you can also see it this way: a proper apprenticeship will help them rebuild their countries, once they are deported back to their countries of origin after completion of their work/studies. It's also some kind of development aid in the long term.

In general I agree though that a negative verdict by a court should lead to swift deportation, but the focus should be on criminal asylum seekers and fundamentalist a**holes. Young and female asylum seekers should be given a priority to stay in the country, as long as they have no criminal record.

Many Austrian employers are currently looking for young apprentices who want to learn a job for 3 years, especially in the tourism and gastronomy sector, jobs that young Austrians don't want to learn any longer. Also, most of the job openings are here in Western Austria with low unemployment - but most of the unemployed and accepted asylum seekers live in the East (in Vienna). So, you could easily bring them into employment if they are here for 2-3 years until they are deported. At least that's better than lounging around on the streets and do stupid stuff ...

[Tender Branson]

Far-right Austrian 'Identitarians' cleared of hate speech

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https://www.thelocal.at/20180726/far-right-austrian-identitarians-cleared-of-hate-speech

[Tender Branson]

New Ö24/Research Affairs poll (n=1.001, July 19-25, MoE = +/- 3.1%):

33% ÖVP
27% SPÖ
24% FPÖ
  6% NEOS
  4% Greens
  2% LiPi
  4% Others

President Van der Bellen approval rating: 57-43

http://www.oe24.at/oesterreich/politik/Umfrage-Mehrheit-will-lauten-Praesidenten/342587708

[Tender Branson]

Hungary/Orban are delivering 2 horses ("Zalan" and "Zadar") as a gift to Austria and Kickl's new mounted police in Vienna (in exchange for some snow ploughs that Austria once gave to Hungary).

Orban also called the gift "a measure among neighbours to thank Austria for their willingness to take the right steps in Europe to stop illegal mass immigration etc.", reports the ORF.

https://orf.at/#/stories/2448684

Voters strongly oppose the new mounted police force that FPÖ-Interior Minister Kickl is currently establishing in Vienna:



27% Support
68% Oppose

Roughly 50 horses will be deployed in Vienna soon.

[Tender Branson]

Chancellor Kurz invited the British PM May, Czech PM Babis and the Estonian PM to Salzburg yesterday to discuss the upcoming final Brexit talks. Later they went to an Opera from Mozart at the world-famous Salzburg Festival:

[Tender Branson]

Another nice Sunday, another state and another hiking trip with Chancellor Kurz and his supporters.

But this time, the opposition (= Socialist Youth and Attac) have learned their part and infiltrated the pro-Kurz crowd.

And when the media people were around, they lifted their Dirndls and a message against ÖVP-FPÖ's recently passed flexi-work law (12 hour day) appeared.

Kurz was unimpressed and walked on ...

[Tender Branson]

President Van der Bellen + wife also went hiking today near Salzburg City, looking down on the city:



Well, it's summer silly season and nothing really important to discuss politically ...

[Tender Branson]

New Market poll for the "Standard" newspaper about what Austrian voters tolerate and not tolerate:

If someone has a different political opinion 92-4
If someone is homosexual 89-5
Children in the neighborhood who are loud 84-9
When people of another skin color move into the neighborhood 84-7
When neighbors are noisy on Sunday 67-21
If someone is traveling slowly by car, stops one 66-22
If someone is a radical animal rights activist and vegetarian 66-22
If someone speaks badly about the Catholic faith 52-31
If someone shows off his wealth 46-38
If someone begs me on the street 45-44
When women wearing headscarves shape the streets 45-42
If someone wishes for Austria a monarchy with a king or emperor at the top 42-38

If you wake up at night from neighbors noise 36-53
If someone thinks they are better than others 34-55
When other people are not tolerant 34-48
If someone else is unfaithful to his / her partner 32-49
If someone scolds foreigners 31-52
If someone speaks badly about Austria 29-59
When young people do not offer seats in the public transport system to the elderly 23-65
If someone glorifies a Socialist revolution 21-54
If someone decorates themselves with successes of others 12-80
If my partner or partner is unfaithful to me 10-78
If someone speaks anti-Semitic, against Jews 10-78
When people with a migrant background do not integrate 7-84
If someone bothers women with suggestive remarks 6-89
If someone glorifies the time of National Socialism 5-87
If you are treated unfairly 4-92
If children are beaten 2-95

https://derstandard.at/2000084362473/Umfrage-Hohe-Werte-fuer-politische-Toleranz-in-Oesterreich

[Tender Branson]

The financial "Trend" magazine has released a list of the 100 wealthiest Austrians recently:

There are 37 billionaires (in €-terms) here.

The richest is the Porsche family (which is actually headquartered here in Zell am See) with about 39.4 Bio. € in wealth, followed by Didi Mateschitz (Red Bull energy drinks) with 12.5 Bio. € and Johann Graf (Novomatic gambling company) with 6.7 Bio. €

The 100 wealthiest Austrians combined have assets of 170 Bio. € (or 45% of the country's GDP).

https://www.trend.at/wirtschaft/ranking-reichste-oesterreicher-10238309

[rob in cal]

   Tender, are there certain towns, regions in Austria where a lot of these super wealthy people live? And what part of Vienna do they like?